The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1887-10-30
The Beauty and Grandeur
Near ParOwan.
THAT CITY'S EARLY HISTORY.
The Labors of the Hardy Pioneers
Panguitch and Its Lake-General
News Notes
PARowAN, Iron County, Utah,
October Goth, 1887.

OI MOTIuOuSI udlulJ SOACSISo III SoAI
Lake by the late President George A.
Smith, and conducted by him from
there to this place, arriving here Janu-
airy 18th, 1851, the company consisting
of about 12O souls. Parowan has moi
increased in population as many other
places in the Territory have since that
time, but it is claimed and established
IN fact that she has been the mother OF
Southern Utah, furnishing the pioneers
that settled Cedar City, Harmony
Tokerville, Harrisburg, Washington,
the "Clara Peach Orchard" and the
first Cotton Farm" settlement near
the present site of st. George, st. Juan,
and also the first settlers of Beaver.
The ridge or elevation on which the
city is located, has evidently at some
time been washed out of the canyon,
half a mile southeast of here, and
consists of a coarse red sandstone
formation, well adapted for fruit and all
kinds of garden vegetables. Eight miles
northwest of the town is the Little Salt
Lake." some ten miles long by one to
two miles wide, the outlet to which is
the Gap" containing numerous In
dian hieroglyphics, and opening into
the Minersville Desert. The valley is
one of the most beautiful in the Terri
tory, being about thirty-fve miles long
by ten to twelve wide, and the beauties
of Parowan Canyon have never yet been
done justice in the papers; many of
them being capped by fat and round
boulders, as though chiseled and put
there by the hand Of some skilled mason.
The sublime grandeur of Alum Cave, :"
compares with any thing in the Amerl-
can Fork, or the Cottonwoods; the
blood red cliffs from 1000 to 5000 feet
high, perpendicular and overhanging,
circling PINE: grove OF about loO acres
with an opening barely admitting the
sntrance Of a wagon, is worthy the
pencil of your Ottinger or Lam
bourne. The quantity and quail
ity of Parowan's saw timber
has been Justly celebrated since
its settlement, as some 10, 900 feet of the
picked clear" was hauled from here to
Salt Lake, $50 miles, and worked in the
Tabernacle organ, when built, and all
the lumber in the State House at Fill
more was furnished from here.
Panguitch Lake is reached by fair
wagon road in about fifteen miles, the
road from the Bowery being worked
over the Indian trail to the lake tire e
years ago, at cost of less than 500.
During the first ten years of its set
Element an incredible amount of labor
was performed by the pioneers in fenc-
ing fields, town lots, building houses,
saw mills, grist mills, meeting houses
and making canyon roads, and up to
this time the raising of fruit was re-
garded as impossible, but Immediately
after President Young's visit here,
where he spent his birthday in 1860, he
so earnestly entreated the people to
give it their attention that almost every
city lot was soon stocked with
good variety, mainly coming from
the Robinson Nurseries, at Fillmore.
From the date of its settlement the
growth of the city as to population and
area has been greatly retarded by the
limited amount of water coming from
its Centre Greek. To-day it contains
near 1900 people, and in the three
farming fields, under good fence, are
500 acres, comprising 500 acres Of
Iucern. The possibility of dry farm
ing" was attempted some five years
ago, and some Kaysville dry land seed
wheat being obtained, the experiment
resulted in seventeen bushels TO the
acre for eight acres, 1t has increased
every year since, and this year some
ten acres of corn, without irrigation,
resulted in a good yield per acre, and
of good quality. The fruit crop has
been good for many years past, with the
exception of the present. when severe
frost last June almost entirely de-
stroyed everything in blossom.
BEES AND HONEY.
One OF the best paying OF Parowan's
industries is the production of honey
and bee culture. am reliably informed
tnat there are not less than thousand
stand of bees here. and during
the past season fully fifty tons of honey
has been taken, besides the usual mum
Der of additional swarms; one widow
| havingproduced what will realize her
some $500.
over $1,000 has been expend d
in the experiment OF flowing
wells, which after going through some
eight streams of surface water in sink
| ing $50 feet, further boring was discon
tinued, for want of means or lack OF
energy nd faith.
1t is beyond question that if the citt-
zens of this valley will only 90 ahead
with dry farming" and make a sue
cess of the well boring experiment,
Parowan will yet become the city tina,
its founder, George A., has so often pre-
dicted it would be. / am reliably in
formed that over 20 900 bushels of grain
has been raised and already threshed
here this season, and at Psragoonah, OF
Red Creek, four miles north of here
some 5000 bushels was raised and
threshed. There are two Mormon
schools, and one Presbyterian now run
ming, with daily attendance of nea'
800, and another Mormon school will be
commenced in few week..
The County Court House is neat
convenient structure, its inside accom-
modations having been arranged sno
copied from the Beaver Court House:
The meeting house is substantial
gray sandstone, and good fac
Smile OF the people here, beins
a good deal better looking (anc
in fact) internally, than externally
| but this has no reference TO the femin-
inc portion, particularly the marriag